Marital rape may be discussed in Parliament

Feb 16, 2013, 02.40AM ISTTNN[ Vishwa Mohan & Rakhi Chakrabarty ]

Members of Left parties are likely to raise the issue of marital rape in Parliament.

NEW DELHI: In what could be the first step to bring the issue of marital rape to the centerstage, members of Parliament are likely to discuss whether it should be treated as an offence during the coming budget session.

The contentious issue, which has remained on the fringes of discussions over criminal laws, will be brought to the mainstream when the government moves to replace the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance with a bill providing for stringent punishment for crimes against women.

Members of Left parties, who have opposed the ordinance as they think the government did not do justice with the Verma Committee recommendations on many issues including marital rape, are expected to raise the issue in unequivocal terms when they push for a 'resolution' disapproving the ordinance.

With Parliament's budget session being convened from February 21, the Rajya Sabha has already admitted the Left-backed resolution to disapprove the Ordinance on Criminal Law (Amendment) that incorporated many key recommendation of the Justice J S Verma Committee report. CPI members D Raja and M P Achuthan had submitted this resolution to the Upper House on February 11.

Seeking to disapprove the ordinance, Raja said, "Why did the government have to bring the ordinance three weeks before Parliament is scheduled to meet?"

Though the ordinance, promulgated by the President on February 1 in the wake of public outrage over the December 16 gang rape, did not include the Verma panel's suggestions for punishing marital rape, the government had indicated that it was quite open to discuss the contentious issue.

The resolution will be listed during the first half of the budget session (February 21-March 22) as the government is mandated to replace the ordinance within six weeks (42 days) of convening Parliament. The House will adjourn on March 22 to meet again on April 22 after a month-long recess.

Before making its way to Parliament, the issue of marital rape will, however, be first discussed during the meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs on February 18.

The panel, considering the pending Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, will also discuss suggestions came from women rights activists and other groups relating to prosecution of members of armed forces under ordinary criminal law in sexual violence cases. At present, there is a provision of sanction for prosecuting such offenders under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

Women rights groups including All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) have rooted for recognize marital rape as an offence. Explaining the stand, the group's general secretary Sudha Sundararaman said, "This exemption (in ordinance), totally and unreasonably, ignores the long standing demand of the women's organizations and others to recognize marital rape as rape".

The association has also submitted its suggestions to the parliamentary panel seeking amendments in the pending Bill to include marital rape as an offence.

Turning down the contention that the government had rejected important recommendations of the justice Verma Committee report, finance minister P Chidambaram had on February 4 said that the ordinance was "only the starting point of a legislative process". He had appealed for patience, assuring more consultations over a range of issues like marital rape, reduction of juvenile age, creation of the offence of "breach of command responsibility" and amending CrPC relating to sanction and the AFSPA.